In Memoriam Pruinae
by OfTheFlamingHeart
Summary: The Adventure Club of Hawaii, Jamie's Family and The Guardians of Childhood react to the events of Frosted Memories 1: Nipped Your Nose (recommended reading prior to this). Surprise character shows up in the end! Jamie/Jack featuring The Guardians, various humans, and Jamie's family. Complete in one chapter.


Jamie Bennett: In Memoriam Pruinae

Author's Note:

I felt that it wasn't right leaving the story the way it ended in the first part of Frosted Memories. Yet, the following story really didn't fit with my idea for the next story. So to tide you over until the next part of the trilogy comes out, I decided on these shorts, basically getting the reactions of the people in Jamie's life. I won't focus much on Claire, especially after this one shot. I will tell her story eventually.

Also of note here is that I am condensing this off-shoot into just a one chapter story, as writing about this for the next few weeks would be very melancholic and probably detrimental to my stamina as a writer. With that in mind, here's the story.

Sophie and Angela Bennett.

The world seemed less bright.

Things had happened so quickly, but now everything was painfully slow.

Angela had been devastated at the news of Jamie's passing. Although the initial reports had only had him listed as missing, she had felt immediately that her son was gone. What she still had trouble wrapping her head around was the idea that Jack was most likely at fault. What else could cause a field of icebergs to appear just off-shore of Hawaii in the summertime? She tried for the first days after to be as brave as her daughter. Sophie had been so sure that Jamie would be found. Finally, with the wreckage found and mostly accounted for and there was no sign of Jamie, Angela let the walls down and cried.

Worse than that, Jack had tried to approach her. Even worse than that, Sophie had rejected him and he went away without explaining what had happened. In the days after, the question of why nearly consumed her and it strained her relationship with Sophie. Bless her, Sophie had taken over making decisions about the memorial service and handled much of the business that Angela herself should have taken care of and distracted herself in. So young, but still so strong.

They'd stayed in Hawaii for the last two weeks and Sophie had handled so much. Angela finally cursed herself mentally for being so selfish. She was the mother, but Sophie had been taking care of her. She had to make it right with Sophie or at least make it better before it got worse.

When she came into the living space, she saw Sophie sitting on the floor. Papers were scattered around her, invoices and order forms and half-finished letters to relatives they barely knew anymore. A laptop, one she had gotten for Christmas last year from some relative or another who still wrote 'from Santa' on the label, sat in front of her. Angela was shaken, her daughter looked so worn. After a moment, she realized Sophie was staring at the screen, but not actually looking at it. Quietly, she sat on the floor next to her daughter.

"Mom! I didn't hear you come in." Sophie said, taking the earbuds out that Angela hadn't noticed she was wearing. She tried to look at her mother with a smile, but couldn't quite manage to pull it off.

"Sophie, I'm sorry." Angela said, pulling her daughter's tired head onto her shoulder. Sophie looked about to object, but was too tired to manage to fight against her mother's embrace. "I haven't been fair to you."

She couldn't help it, tears ran down Sophie's cheeks as she felt a mix of relief at war with her feelings of protectiveness over her mother. "No, mom, it's not your fault. I mean, I understand how you, no I mean…" She mustered a bit more energy to try and pull away to tell her mother what she meant, but Angela was better rested and held her firmly but gently.

Angela interrupted her daughter. "I know what you mean. It still hurts. God, it hurts so much. That doesn't mean you should be doing all this." She let Sophie go just enough to gesture to the pile of work in front of them.

"I can do it." Sophie said weakly.

Angela gave a small smile. "Well, you still shouldn't do it alone. What have you done so far."

And so they spent the next few hours putting the last few arrangements together. Angela made most of the phone calls, Sophie typed away at her computer to secure reservations and invite a few people, although she didn't tell her mother exactly who.

That night, Angela sat on the couch of their hotel suite and just relaxed, trying hard not to imagine how her son must have felt in those last moments. Sophie came out of the first bedroom, the one Angela had shut herself into. At first, Angela was mystified, why had Sophie been in her room? Then she saw what Sophie was holding.

"No." Angela said softly. She covered her eyes.

"Mom, I know how you feel, but please." Sophie pleaded.

Angela sat up on the edge of the couch and covered her face with both hands. "It's too soon."

"It's pretty long. We'll have plenty of time to finish it, but I think we should start." Sophie said.

Angela looked at her daughter again, tears she thought she had already shed were streaming down her face again. "I can't. I shouldn't have asked him to do it. He should have ignored me."

"Now that doesn't sound like him. As much as he probably would have spent the time playing around or sleeping, he knew what you'd done for him…" Sophie started.

Angela stood up. She was angrier than she'd ever been in her life, but she knew it wasn't at her daughter. She fought to control her temper. Finally she managed to look her daughter in the eyes. "What I did for him was to let him get killed. He should have listened to me less, he should have been less perfect, he should have been more selfish! Maybe then he'd still be here!"

Sophie, to her credit, did not back down, although half of her mind wanted to flee. Instead, she opened the journal that her brother had written for their mother while he was enjoying the best summer vacation he'd ever had. She read the first line aloud. "Dear Mom, Yeah, I know exactly who this is for, and I never met anyone named Diary so it's 'Dear Mom' from here on out. How did I ever let you talk me into this? I think I've been bitten by every insect on this hellish cruise ship. Yes, I know you packed bug-repellant. But who puts it in the bottom of a bag? Ugh, well I know you're going to hate me for complaining, but let me tell you about this trip you managed to wrangle through your friend. First thing, find new friends."

"It doesn't say that." Angela said, warring between humor and disbelief.

"Read it yourself" Sophie handed her the book. Without thinking, she grabbed it. Sure enough, it was her own son's handwritten bitching. She'd recognize it anywhere from all the assignments he'd done; it had never gotten much better than when he was young.

Angela sat on the couch and beckoned Sophie to join her. They spent the night trading off reading Jamie's multiple complaints about the cruise ship and how much fun he was just barely managing to have on it. They laughed and cried. Most importantly, for the first time since they'd gotten there, they fell asleep on the couch together.

Adventure Club

It had been a rough week filled with emotion and pain. For the remaining members of the Adventure Club, it was a living hell. Everyone felt horrible.

First and foremost was Clark. It had been his boat, after all. As the days wore on with no word of rescue or recovery, Clark couldn't sleep. The grief, self doubt and second guessing drove him to quit, finally. He was interrogated, but ultimately cleared as the rescuers backed up his iceberg story and his alcohol and drug screens came up clean. None of that mattered to him as much as losing two members.

Travel plans were put on hold if not outright canceled for the other members of the club. Even those who hadn't been hurt in the tragedy were staying around to offer support and condolences.

Larry's elbow was on it's way to recovery, but his father Lorenzo was in rough shape. After he was released, Larry spent the next few days at his father's bedside. Lorenzo was racked with guilt over making it out alive when Jamie hadn't. He didn't speak much, but he did manage to say one thing after being told of Jamie's absence. "They should have listened to me and left me there." Larry didn't know what to say. He felt bad that he hadn't been there and he was grateful his father was alive. But Jamie had been the best friend. It was hard to believe he was gone.

One thing Larry was happy about was the fact that Kathy was there at the hospital. She visited Lorenzo almost as much as Larry did. In fact, Larry was starting to get the feeling that there was something more than friendship between the pair. For his part, Lorenzo did seem more alive, if not exactly talkative. Although, Kathy did do enough talking for all three of them.

Ezra and Flora stayed while Flora's leg was healing. They seemed to be spending much of their time holding hands. Words were beyond them, even at their young age. Bill and Amy visited fairly often while Bill recovered from burns from the explosion.

Even in their various stages of grief and recovery, one email got everyone's attention.

The Memorial Service

It was the same stretch of beach, but the gathering this time was much more somber. They arrived in groups. Angela and Sophie were there first to ensure that all arrangements had been made, even for those who wouldn't be walking. Flora and Ezra made it there next, Flora on crutches, her leg in a cast.

Bill and Amy were right behind them. Bill was swathed in bandages over his burns, and he sat down gingerly. Amy's attention was solely on him.

Then, Larry, Lorenzo, and Kathy joined them. Kathy was pushing Lorenzo's wheel chair. Larry's elbow had mostly healed, but he still needed the sling to remind him to take it easy on that arm.

Finally, Clark made it to the gathering. When Angela spotted him, she immediately went over and gave Clark a hug. Everyone looked on, some stunned by Clark's appearance and others struck by the compassion from Jamie's mother. Clark was in tears as they separated, and Angela led him over to the others.

Sophie repeated her mother's gesture and then everyone seemed to want to join in. Clark was shaken, disbelief and pain visible on his face. Finally, Clark stood in front of Lorenzo, facing the man in the wheelchair. Without a word, Lorenzo motioned the man closer. As Clark leaned over, Lorenzo grabbed his neck and pulled him closer. For the first time since he had been told about Jamie's death, Lorenzo spoke. Even Kathy and Larry nearby couldn't hear what was said. But when Clark stood back up, he spoke, seemingly answering to Lorenzo. "I will."

The service was for both Jamie and Claire, but it seemed Claire didn't have anyone outside of the Adventure Club there. Angela and Sophie had managed to find a picture of the two of then together. It wasn't the only one of the pair, but it was the only one with both of them smiling. It had taken them a lot of time and access to all Adventure Club members' photos, but they'd found it.

As the service wrapped up, Angela spotted a figure in a blue hoodie. Leaving her daughter to exchange kind words, e-mail address and hugs, Angela headed around the curve in the shoreline and just out of sight of the others. The figure removed his hood.

"Mrs. Bennett, I..." Jack started.

"Save it. I've spent some time thinking and the only thing that matters right now is why?" Angela's arms crossed in front of her to keep her from shaking.

"If I was a killer, why would I have stayed?" Jack asked.

"That's not an answer. I asked why?" Angela insisted.

"I don't know what happened. I left the ship for a few minutes and when I came back it was gone." The tears in his eyes seemed genuine. Angela gave no quarter.

"What aren't you telling me?" She asked pointedly.

Jack sighed in frustration. "I saw him kissing someone else."

"Claire." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." Jack admitted. "It looks bad, I know."

"Yeah, now my son and that girl are gone. A field of icebergs. And you're still here."

Jack didn't hesitate. "I didn't..."

"Save it." Angela said sharply. She turned to leave, but caught the look of despair on Jack's face. For a moment, she doubted how he could have killed her son and another person.

She decided to make one concession. "I don't know how to feel about you, Jack. I do know how betrayed and hurt Sophie and I have felt; Sophie has even written to Santa. More than that, she's gotten a response. I don't know why I'm telling you; I should demand that they tear you apart."

Jack looked stricken. He hadn't thought about the Guardians. He could only imagine what Sophie must have said in her letter and none of it was good. "It's only a matter of time before the Guardians catch up with you. I can't believe I'm giving you this chance to clear your name, but all I know for sure is that none of this makes sense. If you didn't do it, then you have the rest of my life to prove it. If you did, I trust the Guardians will take care of you." Angela had said enough. "You know where to find me."

As Angela walked away, Jack saw the Northern lights signaling the gathering of the Guardians.

The Guardians

Sophie's letter had been every bit as condemning as Jack had feared. North didn't even speak to the other Guardians, he just handed the letter to each of them as they arrived. Bunny was completely speechless. Sandman was unreadable, no wisps of dream sand floated over his head to communicate what he was feeling. Toothiana collapsed onto the ground, Baby Tooth trying and failing to comfort her as she sobbed.

After a while, they all managed to compose themselves. North took the lead, as usual. "It is certain. Jack Frost has killed his first believer, the last light that refused to go out, and his own soul mate."

Tooth's disbelief consumed her. "How could this happen? Jack has never harmed anyone in all the years we've known him! I can't believe it's true."

Bunny spoke up angrily. "Get ahold of yourself! We have the letter from Jamie's own sister! How can there be any doubt that HE did it?" Tooth collapsed onto Sandy's shoulder. The Sandman tried to console her, but was about as effective as Baby Tooth. "I don't want to believe that he did it either! But how can we doubt it?" Bunny looked at North. "Even if he was just trying to sink the boat out of anger, his actions still cost TWO mortals their lives."

North nodded his head wearily, once more looking nearly as old as he was. Unnoticed once again, Sandy's eyes fixed on something happening behind North's back. "We have to hunt down Frost." North decided. Bunny's paw went to his boomerang. "But, we will capture him alive. Got it Bunny?"

As the pair bickered once again, Sandy tried to get Tooth's attention, but couldn't manage to distract her from crying on his shoulder. Dream-sand exploded noiselessly over his head in frustration. He tried signaling the other two, but couldn't get a sand in edgewise while North and Bunny fought over what they were going to do with Jack.

Finally, only noticed by the Sandman, the moonlight coalesced. Sandy's eyes widened. Surely he couldn't be actually coming here! He made a dream-sand rocket and propelled it at Bunny and North. It exploded between them and the pair stopped fighting and glared at the Sandman. He, in turn, looked past them and pointed at the figure that stepped out of the moonbeam.

Tsar Lunar XII, the Man in the Moon himself, looked at the faces of four of his own chosen Guardians of Childhood. He spoke. "Hello, old friends, it's been a while."

The End.

End Note: So now we have the setup for the next book in the series. What is so important that it brings Manny down to Earth? Will Jack be able to clear his name? Is there a bigger threat behind all of this? I hope to see you there.

Probably the best way to keep up with this story series is to follow my author's feed directly. You can also find me on twitter, drakkynsoul


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